Dream No Small Dreams
by Tsukiori
Summary: Alexander's curiosity gets the better of him and Daniel's dreams turn out to be quite unexpected things. Alexander/Daniel.
1. Chapter 1

Daniel's dreams were usually light, airy things. As iridescent and flighty as the man whose head they resided in. Alexander liked watching them, sometimes dipping a mental hand into the sunny pool of Daniel's mind-it was always the perfect temperature, the kind that invites swimming- and giving it a lazy swirl. The images spun around lazily-an old church, a pub from his school days, his mother's barely remembered face- then they settled into an iced over pond, a grey day in February and his little sister Hazel, finally well enough to venture out into the chill. Daniel took her hand and coaxed her out onto the ice, his voice soothing, his smile blinding. Alexander could feel that this wasn't a memory but a wish, one that almost certainly would never come true. Either the girl was dead already-and from what he had seen in Daniel's dreams on previous nights she had always been a step removed from the reaper's clutches most of their childhood- or Daniel would be soon. The Shadow was closing in, circling around Alexander's protections, waiting for the first hint of weakness in them. _Soon_, he thought at the primordial guardian, _soon I'll open all doors for you and let you come claim your lovely prize. When I am done with him, I will have need of your energies. _

A cloud passed over the picturesque scene before him. Daniel looked up at the sky, hand tightening around Hazel's small, frail one. Alexander grinned. "Speak of the devil." Daniel glanced over at him, frowned when he couldn't see what had drawn his attention. Then Hazel screamed, was yanked away from him, down, down into the icy depths of the pond. "Hazel!" He lunged for her, fingers brushing hers before he too was pulled away, held fast by blood red sinews that hung suspended from nowhere in the cold air. "Hazel! Let her go! I'm the one you want! I'm the one who took your damned orb!" He thrashed in his bonds, hair falling into his face, chest heaving with the effort to break free.

As lovely as Daniel was in his dreams, nothing could compare to how alluring he was in his nightmares.

"Danny, you were always so quick to come to my rescue. Or to try to." The water frothed and boiled. Hazel floated out of it, changed, despoiled. Her hair was in lank clumps scattered across a pink and raw scalp, her skin the gray of corpses left too long in forgotten places. Her black lips parted in a smile, a trickle of blood ran down her chin. "You couldn't save me all the time Danny. You couldn't save me when it mattered, when it really mattered."

"I tried." He sobbed. "I tried so hard."

She cocked her head to the side, listening to something far off. "You did. At first. Then when it became obvious to you that you would lose, that you couldn't master death, you ran. Algeria, wasn't it? They showed me where it was on a map, the nurses in the sanatorium that is."

"I did it for you. Father was spending all his money on drink and whor...other things. I needed to work, the sanatorium was the best way to-"

"And it never occurred to you that the only reason I stayed alive for as long as I did was because I had you to live for?" Her eyes were hard, glittering things.

"You needed doctors." Tears were running down his cheeks. How utterly exquisite.

"I needed my brother." Her hand shot out, grabbed him by the throat. "But no worries, my pretty Danny. I hold no grudge. You'll be with me here soon enough. It's coming for you. For us. And nothing will keep it from its prey."

A howl rent the night.

"Oh god please. Kill me! Kill me and be done with it! Be humane! Hazel! Haaazel!"

But she had released him, dancing into the lengthening shadows, giggling as she had never done in life-with unrestrained joy.

Daniel cowered in his bonds and the darkness reached for him.

He woke up with a cry, hands clutching his blankets to him. He wiped at his face, was startled when it came away wet. Tears. Not blood. For a moment he had feared his eyes were bleeding. What a strange thought…

A small cough alerted him that he was not alone in his chamber. He suppressed a sigh. "Alexander. Did I wake you again?"

"I was doing some research in my study when I heard you call out. Would you like some water?" The baron, not dressed for bed despite the late hour, turned to fill a cup from the pitcher Daniel kept by his desk.

_Heard me. From another room that is down a hall and on the side furthest from my room._ He shook his head. It didn't do to think too closely on the baron's actions or abilities. Maybe his hearing really was that keen, maybe he had been passing close to Daniel's door on some errand and heard him- but every night? Could coincidence be that strong a creature? _Stop it_, he chastised himself. The man was doing him a favor. Putting him up and protecting him from an eldritch horror that wanted nothing more than to devour Daniel and probably his benefactor as well. He shouldn't doubt the propriety of… He glanced up and saw that Alexander was paused in the act of setting the pitcher back on the stand by the desk, golden eyes danced with amusement and Daniel was left with the uncomfortable impression that the man could read his thoughts.

He reached out for the water with a shaking hand. The baron placed the glass into it, than curled his fingers around Daniel's own, holding the cup steady while he took a small sip. Than another. The man didn't seem to have any intention of letting go. "Thank you. I've had enough."

"Will you sleep tonight, Daniel?" Long, boney fingers brushed a strand of hair from his face.

"I don't think so. I'll read some. Maybe try for a nap around dawn."

"That won't do. We have such a busy day tomorrow."

Daniel suppressed a shudder, he didn't want to think of tomorrow's chores, not at night.

"I can bring my research notes in here. You seem to sleep better when someone is near."

"Don't you need your rest as well?"

"The old do not need as much sleep. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Daniel knew that he should feel grateful that his friend was willing to do so much for him. It was discourteous to find the thought of the old man watching over him in his slumber…unsettling.

Daniel turned and twisted in his sheets, wrapping them tightly around his lithe form. Alexander glanced up from his journals to enjoy the scene in front of him. Daniel did make delightful poses. He longed to sketch the young man, but never gave into the temptation-too difficult to explain if and when Daniel stumbled over them. The boy poked his nose into everything in the castle, thank the dark gods that he wasn't the brightest and didn't comprehend half of what he found. Daniel moaned, writhed.

"The shadow is persistent tonight, my friend. What delicious horrors is it making you witness?" Alexander closed his journal, marking his place with a finger. He rose to his feet and crossed the room to his young charge. "You won't mind if I take a small peek." His hand brushed over Daniel's forehead, pushed aside his sweat dampened hair. He gently pushed in with his mental fingers…and jerked them back out again.

"I…was not expecting that. Daniel, you naughty, little thing." He hadn't seen much, truthfully there hadn't been much to see, just fleeting impressions of heat and skin and sweat. It had been a very long time since Alexander could call himself flustered. He raked unsteady fingers through his hair and turned to leave the boy to his dreams, his presence for the night assuredly unwelcome and unneeded. When his hand closed around the doorknob he paused and looked back over his shoulder. Daniel had rolled over onto his stomach, his face hidden by an arm curled over his head. His night shirts were always too loose and a pale swath of shoulder and spine were exposed to the night air. The cold metal slid away from his fingertips. He slowly began to walk back towards the bed, one more look. It wasn't like Daniel would ever know. And, well, it had been a very long time since the baron had taken an…interest in something of that nature.

He sat beside the young man, mentally shrugged and crawled over Daniel to lie beside him. Nothing wrong in comfort, was there? "Daniel, roll over. This will be easier if I can touch your-" He laid a hand on his charge's shoulder and gently, so as not to wake him, turned him over. Daniel sighed in his sleep and threw an arm over Alexander's chest. "Yes, well then. Very good." He patted Daniel on the head and then slowly moved his arm under the young man's head. He curled the young man almost protectively against himself. "One more time for the night." He whispered. "Let me into your dreams." Gnarled fingers pressed against a feverish temple, and his consciousness dived into darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

Daniel's dream was much as it was when he had first glanced in. Alexander's eyes flashed around the small space. Not finding anything to sit on, he took it upon himself to summon a small chair from Daniel's subconscious. Daniel's dreams were always meticulously detailed, right down to the stitching on the curtains of his childhood house. Alexander was very surprised at the starkness of this one. Everything was dark, not full dark, even in his dreams Daniel abhorred and shied from it, but the air was murky and dim. Alexander had trouble making out the forms on the bed. And there was just a bed. No room, no other furniture, just a very big bed-much like the one Alexander had in his room, come to think of it- and Daniel entwined with a hazy shape that somehow managed to be very decidedly masculine. The contrast between Daniel's pale skin and the darkness of the shape he wrestled with was striking. It showcased Daniel very nicely. Alexander had never noticed that his pupil's legs were so long, that the lean musculature in his thighs and flanks could make the baron forget to breathe when they were tensed just so. Daniel really was entirely too pretty when he thought no one was looking.

Daniel tried to push the shape away, but his wrists were caught and he was pushed down onto the bed. He moaned as his faceless lover began to move against him, legs falling open to grant better access, toes clenching in the sheets. He opened his eyes, smiling up at his lover, it was almost blinding and something dark stirred within Alexander. His hand clenched around the arm of his chair.

Some movement in the shadows drew Daniel's attention, the shape immediately stopped its ministrations as he turned his head. The smile slipped from his face, his hands caught at the forearms of his shadowy amour. "Alexander?"

"Yes, please just pretend I'm not here. Carry on." He waved a hand at the young man.

"But-" He tried to move out from under his partner, but was seized and flipped over, cheek pressed down into the mattress. He gasped at something the shape did to him and closed his eyes again, mouth falling open as he began to pant.

"Very nice, Daniel." Alexander sighed, held out his hand and pulled a glass of wine from thin air. He sipped it, watching the young man enjoy himself with his formless lover.

What felt like hours later-time was meaningless in dreams, Alexander remembered with a grumble-and his wine was gone and he had to admit to himself he wasn't getting what he had wanted from watching Daniel be made love to in his dreams. Daniel showed no signs of changing the movements of his lover, perfectly content with the rolling around in the sheets as if they were both teenagers unsure as to how this was meant to work.

"Daniel. Stop."

"What?" The boy pulled away, breathing ragged.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm…Isn't it obvious?" Annoyance crossed his features. Alexander raised an eyebrow. It was the first time the boy had directed such a look at him.

"No, I dare say it isn't. Is that what fucking is to you Daniel? Gyrating against something that mind as well be a pillar whilst making sounds that would make a whore blush? And the whore would be blushing in embarrassment, Daniel. For you."

"Are you- Are you saying I'm doing it WRONG?"

"Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. Haven't you ever had sex with a man before?" Golden eyes pierced the ether of the young man's mind, rummaging through his memories. "Haven't you had sex with ANYONE before?"

Daniel blushed, hid his face against the shoulder of the shape his dreams had selected to be his lover for the night, faceless because he had never had anyone's face to give it. "Go away. Just- I need to relax. I need to feel human. Let me have this. Even if I am doing it wrong."

"And badly."

"Just leave!" He snapped at the other man, pulling the shape down against him, legs wrapping around it.

Alexander was almost gaping. So Daniel could become angry at him, could show a side of himself that wasn't either dog-like worship or imbecilic. Well, only in his dreams. Alexander rose to his feet and stalked around the bed, fingers trailing along the sheets, watching the two attempt their copulation. He leaned against the bed post, arms crossed. He really should leave. The boy had asked him to after all and this wasn't anywhere near the realms of erotic. Daniel gasped and flung his head back, exposing a pale throat that begged for nips and a well placed bite just _there_. The shape didn't oblige and Daniel whined in frustration. It appeared Alexander wasn't the only one who wasn't getting what he thought he had wanted from the experience. Alexander's fingers dug into his forearms. It had really been too, too long.

"Move." He shoved the faceless shape off of Daniel.

"Alexander!" Daniel squawked trying in vain to preserve his modesty with hands and a crossed leg.

"Get rid of it." His eyes were caught by Daniel's form, now fully exposed for his pleasure without that incompetent dream-thing to obscure it.

"But-"

"Now." Daniel paled and the shape melted into the air.

"Good." He started to undo his cravat.

"What- What are you doing?" Daniel, eyes wide, watched as he took off his coat and then his shirt.

Alexander didn't dignify the question with a response. When he was fully unclothed he crawled on to the bed, over Daniel, who tried to shrink away from him. He ran his fingers through Daniel's hair, an act he had long desired. It was as soft and as fine as he thought it would be. He gave in fully to himself and wrapped a strand around his fingers, inhaled- roses, he always knew Daniel would smell of the roses he always kept by his bedside table-kissed it and let it slip away.

Daniel was still looking at him with the eyes of a scared child who just discovered the things under his bed were too, too real. Alexander sighed. That wouldn't do. He brushed his lips over Daniel's brow, caressed his cheek, splayed a hand across his chest and began to explore the boy's body in earnest. When he tried to move lower than his hip, Daniel woke from his amazement and attempted to shove the older man from him.

Alexander growled, sank his teeth into the boy's shoulder, just as he managed to work his leg between Daniel's and lean his weight _up_. Daniel cried out, whether from the pain or the pleasure, Alexander didn't know or care. He did notice that he was no longer being pushed away, but being drawn towards. He smiled, kissed the imprints his teeth had made.

"You deserve much better than that shoddy construct."

"You mean you're going to… YOU?"

Alexander closed his eyes briefly. Daniel could be so slow to realize things. "Do you find fault with me?" He sometimes forgot what he looked like in this form he had chosen for himself in this world: an old man. It probably had never even crossed Daniel's mind that he could be a prospective sexual partner, and if it had, the thought had probably been chased with a healthy dose of disgust. He debated if he could change his appearance in the boy's dream world. If he could, how should he alter it?

But Daniel was shaking his head. "I'm just…surprised. That's all." He leaned up to brush his lips chastely over Alexander's. "How do we do this?" He was blushing, but the green eyes that met his were unwavering. Such a brave, brave boy.

He kissed Daniel's earlobe, nipped it, before whispering, already deep voice deeper with a lust he hadn't known he was still capable of, "Just think of nothing but me." He trailed kisses down Daniel's chest, was distracted by a nipple that begged to be teased with tongue and teeth. Daniel cried out, writhed against him, fingers tangling in his long, white hair.

"You don't know how easy that is." Daniel's eyes fluttered shut.


	3. Chapter 3

Alexander savored Daniel's body, exploring it with touch and taste, trying to commit as much of it to memory as was possible. He discovered a small scar along the boy's hip and became fascinated by it, tracing it with his tongue before giving it a suckling kiss.

"Stop." Daniel moaned. "Not there. Stop teasing me."

"Where then, Daniel? Here?" Breath ghosted over where Daniel really wanted Alexander's attentions. He opened his eyes and met the baron's, crouched over him, long silver hair spilling across his thighs.

"Yes. Oh, yes. Just get on with it."

A hand was around his throat before he had time to yelp in shock. It was a mere fraction of force away from chocking him.

"Don't presume over much, Daniel. Not when I am condescending to take you to my bed in the first place." He released him with a shove. "I don't like being ordered."

Daniel covered his throat, trying to rub away the baron's touch. "It's not your bed." He snapped.

"Pardon?"

"It's not your bed. It's my dream," He gestured around at their non-surroundings. "in my head."

Alexander's eyes narrowed. "So in your dreams I am meant to be your whore. Little more than that construct you conjured."

"You did offer to take its place." Daniel cried out as he was flipped over, long fingers twisting in his hair.

"I had hoped you would find some pleasure in this as well, but I will just have to content myself with satisfying my own needs it seems." He pulled Daniel's head back, traced the cords of his throat. "I really am ashamed of myself for wanting you the way I do. I dream of you, you know." He pulled back to run a hand down the curve of his back, the swell of his buttocks. "My kind isn't meant to have dreams. It's..." He searched for the right word in a language that Daniel would understand. "unseemly. Maybe here, after we do this sordid business, I can finally-"

Daniel pushed back against him with surprising force, knocking him away. Daniel spun around, grabbing the headboard for support. "How dare YOU! You're the one who presumes too much here, Alexander. You take offense at my actively enjoying our love making, accuse me of thinking of you as only my plaything, then expect me to lay back and become YOUR whore? In my own dream?" He nearly spat on the bed, eyes glittering with rage. "Wake me up, Alexander. I'm done with this. Done with you."

A wolf would look at the hare in that way, Daniel thought, wood digging into his back as he tried to put as much distance between himself and Alexander as possible.

"Damn you." Alexander sighed. "When I think you can't get any more fascinating, you prove me wrong."

"What?"

A smirk flashed across the old man's face as if at some internal joke. "You are more beautiful in defiance than you are in obedience. If only you weren't human. It..." A spidery hand clenched in the sheets. "galls. To be so enchanted by something so lesser."

"I wouldn't have you lower yourself to fuck someone you deem no more than an animal, my lord. Since you found your way into my head, I am sure you can show yourself out. I'm waking up."

"Daniel, please. My apologies. You confuse me. And my reaction to what I don't understand is to become infuriated with it."

"You're apologies always mean nothing. Just let this fade on my waking. I am asleep and yet am more tired than if I were awake."

Alexander tilted his head to one side. "You're right. I'm not sorry. I like this side of you. It's a charming change from your blind adoration." He moved towards Daniel on hands and knees, the wolf imagery came again to mind. Daniel tried to jump from the bed, but Alexander thrust an arm out, palm smacking the wood of the headboard, barring his escape.

"You will let me make amends for my behavior." He leaned forward to nuzzle Daniel's temple, a wisp of white hair tickling the young man's nose. "You want this as much as I, yes?"

"No."

He laughed, pressed his cheek against the other's. "Little liar."

Daniel pushed him back far enough to see his face. "You won't hurt me."

"And you'll treat me with respect. I'm much, much more than anything your tiny mind could imagine."

"I know." He hesitantly wrapped his arms around the baron's neck, slowly leaned forward to press a shy kiss on the corner of his mouth.

Alexander's arms came up to enclose him, enfold him, hold him close and tight, and oh so protectively. "How do you want to come?"

"Excuse me?"

It was a feat to not roll his eyes. "By my hand, my mouth, something more mutual? Don't be shy now. Look at me." He cupped his chin and forced him to look up. "You were so demanding earlier. Tell me now, before this magnanimous mood passes."

"In me."

"Pardon?"

"In me. I want you in me."

The smile that bloomed on Alexander's face was all predator. "Are you sure? You've never done it before. Not even in dreams."

"Please, Alexander."

He shuddered at the plea, looked away before Daniel could see the feral thing that lurked behind his eyes and took fright. "Very well then. If we must."

Alexander raked his fingers down Daniel's stomach, over his hip. "First we have to…" He laughed at himself, shook his head. "I forget this is a dream. Different rules. Just concentrate on letting me in Daniel. It won't hurt. Not here."

It did seem to hurt Daniel a bit though, fingernails clawed Alexander's back as he pushed in. He hissed but didn't tell the boy to stop. He thrust once, hard, just to enjoy the cry of pain his lover made, the way his head fell against the pillows, the spill of dark hair across them. So pretty, Daniel. So so pretty and so so mine now. His arms slid around the boy, chest to chest, forehead resting against forehead. He was shaking, they both were, but each for very different reasons.

"Can you feel me in you, Daniel?"

He nodded. His nose brushing Alexander's.

"Can you feel my heartbeat against yours?"

Again a nod.

"Do you like it?

He hesitated, then nodded.

Alexander smiled. "It does get better. Trust me."

"I do." He whispered. "Though I know I shouldn't." It was all the encouragement Alexander needed.


	4. Chapter 4

Daniel cupped his face, held it still so he could pepper it with kisses as Alexander slowly started to move his hips. He caressed a trembling thigh. "Talk to me." Daniel pleaded, breath hot against his ear.

Hm?" He tried not to be distracted from mouthing Daniel's neck, licked a stripe up to his chin.

"Talk to me. Say anything. I like- I like your voice."

"Oh, Daniel." He felt the boy tighten around him and purred, and what the boy's body did at _that_ was exquisite.

"You feel so lovely Daniel. So tight around me. I never imagined we would end up like this. That I'd be so weak." He braced himself over Daniel with one hand, hooked one of the boy's legs over his arm so he could deepen the angle. "Thank the gods I am that weak."

"You find me- You think me handsome?"

"I think you ravishing. Your face is the only thing that saved you when you came to my doors. I wanted to look at it for as long as possible before-" He growled. Cursed himself for saying too much. Daniel could still remember some of this on waking, maybe not fully, but enough to color his perceptions of the baron and his deeds.

"I wanted this. I wanted you to do this to me the moment you spoke."

"You love my voice that much? It's positively a fetish with you!"

Daniel shook his head, hair sticking to his sweaty cheek. "It was also what you said. You're brilliant. You leave me in," He keened as Alexander rubbed against something that sent off sparks within his body. "awe. You awe me. Your mind brings me to my knees."

Alexander chuckled, halted, pulled out. "Now that is a lovely image. You on your knees before me." He traced the boy's lips.

"Maybe when we do this in your dream." Daniel curled his fingers in the baron's hair, as Alexander laughed and pulled him close.

Alexander couldn't remember laughing so much in one evening, not even in the long ago times when he was at home among his people. "You amazing creature." His voice turning husky as Daniel wrapped those lovely legs around him. He kissed Daniel as he lowered himself down and Alexander rose up. Kissing, another thing he didn't remember doing often or liking, but he couldn't seem to get enough of it. Each roll of their hips, each soft sigh from those lips begged for another and another, until he gave up and let them fall to the pillows and tried to steal Daniel's very breath.

When he finally let them part, Daniel was gasping for air, tears making green eyes shimmer, hair a dark spill across white fabric. Mine mine mine, the word blazed brighter with each beat of his heart and he leaned down to claim him again.

Their lips barely grazed before Daniel fisted his hands in his hair and pulled him back. He growled, actually bared his teeth at being denied, but Daniel just laughed, knowing well he was safe between the paws of this particular monster. "Do you find me to you liking, my lord?"

"I would think it obvious that I do."

"Even with my being so appalling dull and human?"

"There is nothing appalling or dull about you, Daniel. Let me go. Let me kiss you again."

"I'm still human though."

"You're a puzzle. I have no love for your species. In fact I abhor them. But when you first came to my castle, opened your mouth and started chirping your endless questions and whatever asinine observations flitted through your pretty head at me, I was charmed." He thrust harder, rhythm lost. "Your guilelessness, that flawless face and that lovely, lovely sorrow you carry in your heart."

"You're hurting me."

"You love it."

"I do. If it's you, I do."

Alexander tried once again to kiss him and again was denied. "But I still tell you I am nothing special. You seem to put me apart from my own race."

Alexander slowed. "I do. You charmed a being from a race that isn't easily bewitched. You are, truly, something marvelous."

"And I say again, still human Alexander." The boy began to fidget, to try to break free from Alexander's arms, to crawl out from under him.

"No, don't pull away. Stay. This is lovely. You are lovely. I..." His voice trailed off and Daniel stopped trying to escape, put a hand on a wrinkled cheek.

"You what, Alexander?"

"I didn't realize how much I wanted this, wanted you, needed you. Don't wake up."

Daniel's eyes were sad, but he lay back down, let Alexander bury his face in his hair. "I should though. This is has gone on too far already. This isn't a mere dream. I know that. I think we are well beyond satisfying mere physical needs and I can't hide that this means something to me. If we go on, I'm going to get hurt. This can't end happily, Alexander."

"What are you talking about?" His words warm breath against Daniel's neck, and he shuddered.

"I know what fate waits for me. I may be able to lie to myself in the waking world, but here, inside myself, I know."

Alexander looked down at Daniel.

"I can't out run it. I can't hide from it. I've just been delaying the inevitable. You never had any intentions of saving me, I realize that and I don't think you could even to it if you had wanted to."

"Why are you only this damn observant when you're asleep?"

Daniel laughed, but it was a watery laugh, thick with unshed tears.

"Stop that. No crying, Daniel. That isn't fair." He pressed a kiss to each eyelid.

Thin fingers dug into Alexander's shoulders, pulling him tight against the warm body beneath him. "Can we do this out there? In the waking world?" He murmured into Alexander's ear. "Where I can lie to myself that happy endings do exist?"

"We'll see, but probably no. You would run so far from me if I so much as glanced at you with an ounce of what I want to do to you showing in my eyes."

He could feel the curve of Daniel's smile against his neck. "I wouldn't."

"You won't even remember this come morning."

Daniel pulled back so he could see Alexander's face. "Part of me will. Part of me always remembers that you come here at night." His hand slid over Alexander's back. "Promise me. Promise me we'll do this in the waking world before-" his voice caught. "before the end."

"Oh, Daniel." He kissed him hard and bruising, hoping Daniel couldn't sense the regret in it. He broke the kiss to bite his collarbone, hard. Daniel gasped, tightened around him deliciously. _I am going to mourn you_, he realized and shuddered. It was never suppose to turn out like this.

"Shh, enough. I know. Whatever you're thinking, I can guess and I thank you for it." Daniel cradled Alexander's gaunt cheeks and smiled the sweetest smile he had ever seen in his long, long life. "And I do understand."

"No, you don't." Alexander whispered. Theoretically there might be a way to save Daniel, but he would have to delay the opening of the portal by weeks. Too long, too dangerous. It was doubtful that he could keep the Shadow at bay for that long and besides, home was nearly in his grasp after all this time, weeks might as well be more centuries. "I don't need or seek your absolvement of my sins."

Daniel shook his head. "It doesn't matter, you have it regardless. Now let's finish this. Make love to me. Make me remember this when I wake up." Alexander could feel Daniel surrender to him, could feel the body in his arms become undeniably his in that instant. His control slipped away.

He held Daniel down, used him ruthlessly, trying to release every scrap of attachment to the young man, every hint of affection that might make him...foolish. _Let it end with this, let it end tonight, whatever is between us._ "Lovely." He growled out as Daniel held him tighter.

"You too. You feel lovely too." Alexander's hands skittered over sweat-slicked ribs, stomach, clenched at hips and pulled them towards him with each thrust.

Daniel was making the most adorable sounds. "What? What do I feel like, my love?"

"Like...home. Like coming home."

And he was undone, rhythm lost. He could feel the loneliness in the boy, how similar it was to his own, and he knew-though his absence from his world would like to make him forget it ever had faults- that it had been present in his former life as well. Such a strange, strange place to finally find kinship. Such a tragedy that it had come too late.

He was close. So very very close and Daniel looked so beautiful sprawled over the bed, one hand furiously attending to his own need. One night, one night unremembered for one of them and closely held to the heart of the other. As it should be. _I'll always remember you little one, I'll always be thankful for this gift, for the time we had though it was brief._ Daniel hid his face in Alexander's hair, his body shuddering, clenching on Alexander inside of him. "Please. Hurry."

Alexander's only response was a bite on the boy's neck, holding him still. Soon soon soon...

A tendril of shadow-wrought nightmare wrapped around Daniel and snatched him from Alexander's embrace. "Wait! No!" He screamed, lust thwarted, enraged. The bed dissolved, snow numbing his hands and knees, a woods in deep winter starting to come into being around him where he knelt, hand outstretched toward where his Daniel had been pulled away.

The woods solidified. It was the pond scene from Daniel's first dream of the evening. He looked around, frantic, then he spotted Daniel, fully clothed now, walking away from him and into the gloom of the trees. He was walking hand in hand with his sister Hazel. The little girl turned and looked back at Alexander over her shoulder. And smiled at him with the Shadow's eyes. 


	5. Chapter 5

Daniel awoke with a cry. Damnable nightmares. He could barely remember this one. Could have sworn that it had started off as quite a good dream before it had soured. He shakily brushed his hair back from his forehead. He started when he felt the bed shift under someone else's weight.

"Alexander? What are you doing in my bed?"

"We're changing the rituals." His friend informed him in a voice that held all the rage and inflexibility of death.

"O-Oh?"

"We'll have to work twice as hard to make up for the wasted time, but I am sure we can get it all accomplished before that infernal thing comes here." Alexander sat up, scowling at the room.

Daniel trembled. He had never seen the older man enraged. It was terrifying. "How are we changing the rituals? What kinds of changes? Weren't they always to stave off the shadow? To hide me from it?"

Alexander gave him a look.

Daniel dropped his eyes, started to worry a loose thread in the blanket. "You don't have to tell me. I am sure I wouldn't understand it anyways."

He yelped as a strong hand yanked his chin up, then his mind skittered to a halt as withered lips closed over his with a ferocity he had never known in his twenty-eight years.

"I'll be damned." Alexander snarled as he pulled away, "If I give you to that smug, bastard, thing!" He got out of bed, reached down and traced with one finger Daniel's cheekbone, following down the curve of his face to the edge of his lips. "I have been a fool, little one. Age and loneliness and despair have made my mind slow." His expression gentled as Daniel looked up at him in an amazement almost akin to fear. "Just because you were born human doesn't mean you have to remain one. Then we can be..." He trailed off, eyes seemingly mesmerized by his thumb running along Daniel's lower lip.

"We can be what?" Daniel prompted, the slightest hint of a quaver in his voice.

Alexander's mouth twitched into a crooked smile. He leaned down, Daniel at first flinched away, but then held still as Alexander kissed him again, gentler than the first one, lingering. Alexander rested his full weight against Daniel, bearing the younger man down onto the bed. The baron pulled away, only to come back when Daniel made a small sound of loss.

Finally, he flung himself out of Daniel's embrace-Daniel was quite surprised to realize his hands had crept up to clutch at the baron's shirt-and stalked to the door muttering about needing to make preparations for the changed rituals.

He paused, hand resting on the doorknob. "I didn't mean for this, but now that I am committed to this contest I will win it. I think it might be the sweetest victory I will ever claim."

The smile he threw over his shoulder at Daniel was a thing made up of possession and madness. "You'll dine with me tonight after the ceremony. I made you a promise last night and I find myself fully intending to keep it." His eyes glittered as he gazed over Daniel's sleep rumpled appearance. "And we won't be interrupted this time." He left.

Daniel laid back down, stunned. His fingers traced over his lips. What was that all about? Alexander hadn't promised him anything last night. Something stirred at the very edge of his mind. He hadn't, had he?


End file.
